TUSKEGEE − A trial date has been set for Ibraheem Yazeed in a 2019 murder case that provoked outrage and led to a change in Alabama laws.
Yazeed is facing three counts of capital murder. Jury selection is set to begin the week of March 2, 2026, in Tuskegee, court records show.
Yazeed is charged in the October 2019 disappearance and death of Aniah Blanchard, 19, who was attending Southern Union Community College in Auburn at the time. Blanchard's body was found about a month later in a wooded area of Macon County. Court records show she died of a gunshot wound.
Yazeed has pleaded not guilty, court records show.
In June, Alabama Chief Justice Sarah Stewart appointed retired Circuit Judge Tom Young Jr. to preside in the case as part of the newly enacted Speedy Trials Act. The act allows retired or visiting judges to be appointed to hear cases in an effort to address delayed cases.
At the time of his arrest in the Blanchard case, Yazeed was out on bond on charges of kidnapping, attempted murder and robbery in an unrelated case. That situation led to the passage of Aniah's Law by the Alabama Legislature, which gives judges more power to have defendants held without bond if they are charged with violent crimes.
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This article originally appeared on Montgomery Advertiser: Trial date set in murder case that changed Alabama laws
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